Pacific Northwest Cruising

NORTHWEST CRUISING

The Pacific Northwest boasts some of the most spectacular cruising grounds in the world. From the Salish Sea up the Inside Passage to Alaska, cruising these beautiful waterways is truly an unforgettable experience.

Ballard Maritime History

Settled by Scandinavian fishermen, Ballard remains home to the thriving North Pacific fishing fleet. These fishing vessels represent the diversity of our fishing industry, operating in some of the most demanding conditions at sea while catching halibut, crab, salmon, and more. To service these fishing vessels, Ballard has the largest concentration of marine repair facilities and manpower in the United States.

50 year old fishing industry - $8.5 billion a year industry - 1000+ commercial fishing vessels homeported in Ballard’s freshwater.
The highest concentration of maritime repair professionals in the USA.

F/V Northwestern, featured on the Deadliest Catch, was built in the 1970s at Marco Shipyard, now the site of Salmon Bay Marine Center (SBMC).

BALLARD’S FISHING FLEET

The crab fishing fleet, made famous by The Deadliest Catch, homeports in Ballard
Each season they travel to the Bearing Sea to fish for red king crab, blue king crab, brown crab, bairdi, and opillio.

Longliners and trawlers operating from Ballard ply the waters of the North Pacific for halibut,
lingcod, grayling, arctic char, sable fish, pacific cod, and pollock.

Seiners moored at Fishermen’s Terminal, 500 yards from SBMC.

Seiners based in Ballard are the backbone of the salmon fishing fleet.
They travel northward each season in search of the five species of salmon: king (chinook),
silver (coho), pink (humpback), chum (dog or keta), and sockeye (red, kokanee, blueback).

Hundred-year-old schooners, built and maintained in Ballard, continue to operate safely and profitably.

From 1911 until 1925, shipyards in Ballard launched dozens of longline schooners to fish for halibut and cod.
Today, these same vessels—some over 100 years old—continue working the Aleutians each summer.

F/V Starbound, a 300-foot catcher-processor homeported in Ballard.
Catcher-processors as large as 300 feet homeport in Ballard.
These vessels spend months at sea.

Why do all these fishermen travel thousands of miles back to Ballard each year?

Simply put, Ballard’s shipyards and tradesmen have earned a reputation as the hardest working, most capable, and conscientious in the business Combined with the unique freshwater ship canal, which naturally kills bottom growth and flushes raw water systems, Ballard is the ideal location for maintenance and upgrades for demanding operators.

Ballard shipwrights work into the night installing a Kort nozzle on a seiner.
More Info on Ballard's maritime history can be found at The Nordic Museum: nordicmuseum.org

Entering The Ballard Ship Canal

A single large (760x80 foot) or small (150x30 foot) lock lifts boats about 8 to 12 feet
(depending on tide level) to the Ballard Ship Canal. Salmon Bay Marine Center (SBMC)
is on the freshwater side, just 1000 yards from the locks

Time For Us (171’ x 30’) and Daedalus (151’ x 32’) in the locks at fresh water level